


Scars of the Dragon

by Burgie



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Multi, female WoL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 17:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20839616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Estinien decides that it's finally time to face the music and reveal the truth to his lovers. Zelda belongs to ZDusk.





	Scars of the Dragon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ZDusk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZDusk/gifts).

It was folly, really, to think that everything would be the same. That everything could just go back to normal, that things would be fine. And sure, maybe things were fine for Aymeric... now, anyway. Zelda, too, was mostly fine. Sure, she'd lost her fellow Scions and regained most of them but nothing would be the same, but that hadn't hit her nearly as hard as it had hit some of her other friends. No, the most major change lay within Estinien himself. The shade of Nidhogg may have left him, the city of Ishgard may be rebuilding, but... the scars would never go away, he feared. Thus why he had left Ishgard behind him, why he'd left with nary a word to his two lovers.

Why he now found himself on the other side of Eorzea, it felt like. The warmer climate here was certainly a far cry from the chilly land that he'd called home for so many years. But the deed was done- Nidhogg's eyes destroyed and the man who'd terrorised the country and Doma both with them. The last dying gasp, the death throes, of a man so bored that he'd do anything just to feel something. At least Nidhogg's rage, great though it was, had had its reason. The story of Zenos and his downfall was just... sad.

Mayhap that was why Estinien now lingered despite everything in him telling him that he should go home. Or mayhap it was simply that his loved ones were here now.

Mayhap, in fact, it was simply the fact that it was raining, poor weather to be traveling in. Or so Estinien told himself.

That was certainly the reason that he allowed himself to be found by the man with eyes of the purest blue.

"What a coincidence of fate that we should have the same destination," said Aymeric, spying Estinien hiding in an alley in Ala Mhigo.

"Quite unlike the Lord Commander to be visiting a darkened alley," said Estinien, a small smile curving his lips. Ever the stoic one, even without Nidhogg's shade, but having Aymeric so near was... a comfort, being so far from home. Zelda had already found him some days ago and given him a thorough tongue lashing (literal and metaphorical, there had been more kissing than punching, mercifully), but Estinien had only seen his boyfriend from a distance. Observing him in his natural habitat, though he occasionally stumbled. Nobody was perfect, after all.

"Would that I could say it was quite unlike you to be hiding in one," said Aymeric. "The others would be pleased to see you, I am sure."

"Nay, I dare not show my face," said Estinien, lowering his head even now. "Let them believe some miracle, some avenging angel, destroyed that cannon."

"Quite unlike you to be so humble," said Aymeric. "Pray come inside, Zelda has procured a room for us."

Estinien closed his eyes for a few moments, weighing the implications of doing such a hing. Should he stay, he would risk letting his emotions have full reign, risking everything. But should he leave again... well, Zelda may just kill him. And there was a part of him, much though he wished he could ignore it, that dreaded seeing sadness cloud the features of his loved ones. Mayhap it was selfish of him, to want to stay and risk hurting them.

"Twould be a shame if my armour were to rust in the rain," said Estinien, mirth colouring his voice. Aymeric laughed at the old jest, a jest from their early days training as knights together before life had become so complicated, before the Calamity, before Nidhogg, before the Dragonsong war. Estinien accepted the arm around him gratefully, glad for the light mail that he wore now. His dragoon armour was not needed now, not in Ala Mhigo. The newly-liberated Ala Mhigo, anyway.

Estinien had to admit that it was much warmer in the building that Aymeric took him to. It must have once housed imperials or those under the sway of the imperials, for it was a nicely-furnished abode. Only the best for the representatives of each nation, he supposed. Though truthfully, Estinien felt that he would be happy in barracks, so long as he had those he loved by his side.

"You found him!" said Zelda, her red eyes wide with surprise as she made her way across the room to embrace first Aymeric and then Estinien. She hugged Estinien for longer, despite how drenched he was from the rain. Estinien found that he could not protest this, not even able to stop his arms from returning Zelda's embrace.

"He was not overly difficult to find," said Aymeric. "Almost as though he wanted to be found." And mayhap he had the truth of it, loathe though Estinien may be to admit it.

"Are you gonna tell us why you were gone so long now?" Zelda asked. She'd asked him before, and Estinien had avoided the question simply by asking after Zelda's health and saying that he just needed some time alone. Which he had, but...

"I would feel more comfortable telling you in the bedroom," said Estinien. Zelda was usually quick to jump to the logical conclusion when that was mentioned, but there must have been something in his voice, in his face, that told her not to jump to that conclusion this time.

"By all means," said Aymeric. Zelda led the way, Estinien bringing up the rear. Anxiety clawed at his insides like dragon talons, which wouldn't be far from the truth, he supposed. His skin crawled, that fluttery feeling that usually preceded the new features appearing. Once, anxiety had caused that, but not anymore. His time away had seen to that.

Once the door had closed behind him, Estinien had to fight the feeling of being trapped. It drove him to check the windows, ensuring that they were shuttered, the curtains closed. Against his mind, his very heart, screaming at him not to, Estinien brightened the lamps that lit the room, turning it from cozy to something rather more... revealing. There would be no hiding anymore. Should be no hiding from his loved ones. They deserved to know.

"I will understand if what I am about to tell you makes you... fear me," said Estinien, much as his mind screamed against it.

"We could never fear you," said Zelda immediately. Aymeric nodded, taking a seat beside her on a chair by the bed.

"We shall see about that," said Estinien. There was no going back now. He sighed, lowering his gaze as he began to remove his light mail, a task made more difficult thanks to the drenching that he'd gotten in the rain. He spoke as he undressed himself, hoping that it would quell the anxiety rising within him. At least he'd gotten that under control- well, mostly.

"Though Nidhogg's shade left me after that fateful battle on the Steps of Faith, his effects... lingered." The intake of breath told him that Zelda, at least, had caught sight of the more visible scar on his right forearm. Or mayhap it was the slowly-emerging black scales in places on his skin. "I noticed it not long after I awoke. You may remember that I made my exit before I had recovered enough to do much more than stay upright." And oh, how the journey had been made more difficult due to that fact. "Though Nidhogg may be gone, he left me with scars that will never truly go away. And I speak not only of the physical scarring." Closing his eyes, Estinien breathed deeply, as he'd learned to do in order to control this transformation, this curse. When he opened his eyes again, he knew that they were red, the colour they'd been when he was possessed. They even glowed slightly, as he'd discovered on one dark night. He would never forget the bloodred glow before him, how he'd been convinced for several moments that he'd been dying. Until he'd glimpsed his reflection in a stream.

"Like in the fight..." Aymeric murmured. Zelda had told him about it, but he'd never glimpsed it before. This was the first time that he'd seen this form of his boyfriend.

"Yes," said Estinien. "It is precisely the form that so afflicted me during that fateful fight." Now, Estinien grimaced as the more physical features emerged. As a scaled reptilian tail sprouted from his spine, his fingers became tipped with claws, scales erupted up to his elbows (though noticeably absent over the scarring on his lower arm and shoulder), horns curved from his skull, and wings erupted from his back. The first few times this had happened, his body had been a symphony of pain, leaving him in agony once the transformation had completed itself. Now, though, the pain was lessened, or perhaps it was overshadowed by the fear of what his partners would say, what they would do.

It was with a trembling body and trepidation that Estinien finally raised his eyes from his newly-clawed feet, meeting the gazes of Aymeric and Zelda. He'd expected to see revulsion, fear, hatred, but instead he found... wonder. And was that... pity?

"So this is why you spent so long away," said Aymeric. "Did you fear that you would... hurt us? That Nidhogg would take over? Surely not that we would abandon you..."

"Truthfully, I did fear that you would both leave me," said Estinien. "That my new form would drive you away."

"Estinien, you should know us better than that," said Zelda, her eyes shining with tears. "We love you, we'd never just abandon you. We would've worked through this with you."

"And we are still willing to work through this with you, should you need any further aid," said Aymeric. Estinien was surprised to find a lump in his throat, one that he needed to swallow before he could speak.

"How I ever came to be blessed with two such understanding lovers, I will never know," said Estinien. He cleared his throat. "Though, that was only part of the reason for my leaving. The other was simply so that I could better get a handle on my... condition." He knew that hey would only protest if he called it what it truly was- a curse. The curse for forgetting, for becoming compliant, for letting Nidhogg's rage consume him. For not being more careful.

"And should your average Ishgardian see a man with draconic features, especially given the war with the heretics, there would be panic in the streets," said Aymeric.

"And the repercussions on you for openly... well, they would see it as little better than lying with a dragon," said Estinien. Ishgardians generally did not disagree with Aymeric's romantic partners, not their gender nor the number, but if one of them happened to have draconic features? The Dragonsong War may well be over, along with the dangers posed by the heretics, but the threat yet lingered. The people would not soon forget, nor would they forgive this transgression.

"Ever the selfless dragoon," said Aymeric, smiling fondly at him.

"I have ever been loyal foremost to you, my lord," said Estinien. "And now the lady Zelda as well."

"And you know that we're loyal to you and would jump to your defense if anyone were to call you a heretic or some such," said Zelda. Estinien nodded.

"That was why I had to leave," said Estinien. "And I am sorry that I could not explain, that I left without even saying goodbye, especially given the losses that we have all endured. But I thank you for being patient and understanding. And for still loving me, even now."

"If you really thought we'd hate you just because you look a bit different now under the right circumstances, you really don't know us," said Zelda. Now, Estinien had to close his eyes against the tears that threatened to fall. He had expected questions, despite knowing that they loved him. Had half expected outright abandonment. He certainly hadn't expected, well... this.

But, as first Aymeric's and then Zelda's arms came around Estinien's naked, shivering form, Estinien felt their love well up in him, threatening to overflow, to crumble the walls that he'd built up around himself so carefully these past months. Even before that, with the threat of Nidhogg overtaking him, the knowledge that he had to devote himself wholly to the cause, Estinien had never truly allowed himself to feel anything too strong. But now, he could feel it. Now, the love could well up, could break down those walls, erode them away to nothing, now, Estinien could let himself love fully and deeply. For the first time since his family's death, Estinien allowed the rain to fall upon the parched earth of his soul. And lo, would it pour. But it was long overdue.


End file.
